Dive Brief:

• California contracting giant Bechtel, Inc., has been selected to build the controversial $1 billion Cricket Valley Energy gas-fired power plant in Dover, NY, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.
• The 1,000-megawatt plant, which will be able to generate enough power to run nearly one million homes, has local government approval and is expected to create 30 permanent jobs and 800 construction jobs.
• Opponents of the plant's construction, which has been in the development stage for six years, have raised the issue of diminished air quality around the plant. They have also questioned the aesthetic of the required power transmission line, which is set to run from Dover to Pleasant Valley, NY.

Dive Insight:

The selection of Bechtel as the contractor allows Cricket Valley to move forward with development and financing of the plant, the Journal reported.  But then there's the question of the power line.

The New York Public Service Commission is reviewing Cricket Valley's power line proposal. A citizens' coalition is asking the commission to deny it, calling it "a hodgepodge visual design causing reduction in property values for years to come."

Meanwhile, the project's air quality permit expired due to the time it's taken the commission to review the power line, and Dover can't issue a permit without an approved line. Nevertheless, Cricket Valley officials are excited about moving forward with the chosen contractor, the Journal reported. 

Robert De Meyere, project manager for Cricket Valley, told the Journal, "This is a big milestone and we wanted to signal to the marketplace that the project is starting to get some momentum.”